The Minimalist Rookie of the Year

Willie McCovey won the 1959 NL Rookie of the Year unanimously, despite playing just 52 games. (via Holly Hickman)

Willie McCovey won the 1959 NL Rookie of the Year despite playing just 52 games. (via Holly Hickman)

The Rookie of the Year award requires no minimum number of plate appearances or innings pitched. Typically, a Rookie of the Year will be on the roster most of the season if not from Opening Day, but any eligible rookie will do. Currently, rookie status applies to any player with fewer than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched, or 45 days on a major league roster in a previous season.

In 1959, rookie status was defined by fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in a previous season. As it turned out, the 1959 National League winner played for less than two months. He did not appear on the roster till July 30 and had a mere 192 at-bats. Yet he was a unanimous choice (by the Baseball Writers Association of America) for Rookie of the Year. A short-timer winning the award is highly unusual, but the player in question was also highly unusual. That player was Willie McCovey.

Famed scout Alex Pompez (Hall of Fame 2006) invited McCovey, a native of Mobile, Ala., to a New York Giants tryout camp in Melbourne, Fla. in 1955. Just 17 years old, McCovey was in camp with Orlando Cepeda, Felipe Alou and Jose Pagan. Despite an unimpressive performance he was signed to a contract and sent to the Giants’ Class D affiliate in the Georgia State League.

For the Sandersville Giants, McCovey hit .305 with 19 home runs in 410 at-bats; the following season he had 29 home runs to go with a .310 batting average in 519 at bats for Danville of the Class B Carolina League.

Moving up to the Double-A Texas League at age 19, he hit 11 home runs and drove home 65 in 295 at-bats for the Dallas Eagles. In 1958 (when the parent club moved to San Francisco), he was promoted to the Triple-A Phoenix Giants of the Pacific Coast League. While there, he hit 14 homers and drove home 89 in 527 at bats, helping Phoenix win the PCL championship.

That same year in San Francisco, first baseman Cepeda won the Rookie of the Year award. He also became a fan favorite, beating out Willie Mays for team MVP. Since McCovey played only first base and Cepeda was entrenched there, the former was sent back to Phoenix in 1959. Even so, McCovey had moved up the depth chart as another first baseman, Bill White, was traded to the Cardinals after the 1958 season.

Yankees owner Del Webb lived in Phoenix and was well aware of McCovey’s prowess. He contacted Giants owner Horace Stoneham about acquiring McCovey. Webb also explored the possibility of moving Yankee first baseman Bill Skowron to third base to make room for McCovey. Stoneham, however, was not about to be snookered.

McCovey’s potential was hardly a secret. After 349 at-bats for Phoenix in 1959, he had 29 homers, 92 RBIs and a .372 batting average. This was the sort of offensive boost the Giants needed, as they were in a pennant race, just a half game out of first place. So the Giants called up McCovey on July 29.

Playing his first 10 games at Seals Stadium, the former PCL park, McCovey made his debut against Robin Roberts and the Phillies on July 30. He responded with a four-for-four day including two triples, two RBIs and three runs scored. The Thursday night crowd of 10,114 had been privy to the debut of a player who was to play a key role in franchise history.

The next day he was a mere one for four, but his one hit was a game-winning single off Harvey Haddix of the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth inning.

On Aug. 2, he hit his first homer, off Ron Kline of Pittsburgh. It was a two-run shot in the fourth inning.

On Aug. 5, he had his first multiple home run game by taking the Braves’ Bob Buhl deep twice (a solo shot and a two-run blow).

On Aug. 17 at Cincinnati, his pinch-hit single launched him on a 22-game hitting streak. The streak ended on Friday, Sept. 11, at Seals Stadium. Ironically, the pitcher who thwarted him was Robin Roberts, who had yielded his first major league hit six weeks before.

On Sept. 20, McCovey and the Giants said bye-bye to Seals Stadium in an 8-2 loss to the Dodgers. McCovey had been there for just 28 games but he surely missed the place when the Giants moved to Candlestick Park. There was little time for sentiment, however, as the park was demolished soon after the season ended.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

A Sept. 22 contest at Wrigley Field marked the first time Mays, McCovey and Cepeda had batted in the 3-4-5 position in the lineup. The composite results were four for 12 (McCovey was three for four with two doubles). The 5,442 people on hand that Tuesday afternoon could not have known that they had seen the debut of the best 3-4-5 power combo in baseball history. This trio would remain together for 983 games (of course, all three did not appear together in all those games), clouting 1,560 homers. The threesome was broken up after 19 games in the 1966 season when one of the Giants’ most notorious trades sent Cepeda to St. Louis in exchange for Ray Sadecki.

Despite the presence of McCovey, the Giants’ 1959 season ended on a down note: They lost seven of their last eight games, finishing the season at 83-71. That record left them in third place, four games behind the pennant-winning Dodgers and second-place Braves.

In his two-month tenure with the Giants, McCovey had a .354 batting average, a .656 slugging percentage and a 1.085 OPS. Projected over a full season, his 13 home runs and 38 RBIs would have been approximately threefold. His composite Triple-A/major league batting average was .366, and his combined offensive stats were 42 homers, 130 RBIs, and 198 hits. It is certainly possible that his minor league credentials influenced the Rookie of the Year voters.

It’s not as though McCovey faced weak competition for the award. This was also the rookie year for a number of prominent National Leaguers, namely:

George Altman (Cubs) had a nine-year NL career. In 1959, he hit 12 home runs and had 47 RBIs in 420 at-bats, but his .245 batting average worked against him.

Ernie Broglio (Cardinals) started 25 games, winning seven and losing 12 with a 4.72 ERA in 181.1 innings. Nothing to be ashamed of for a rookie, but not good enough for ROY. Who would have guessed that he would have a career year (21-9, 2.74) the next season? Four years later, however, his value would forever be linked with the Cardinals’ Lou Brock, for whom he was traded, and whose careers went in opposite directions.

Eddie Fisher made his debut with the Giants a little more than a month before McCovey. His 2-6 record with a 7.88 ERA in 40 innings would hardly endear him to ROY voters; nevertheless, it was the beginning of a 15-year career.

Bob Gibson (Cardinals) needs no introduction, but his rookie year of 3-5 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 games made for a modest beginning.

Lee Maye (Braves) embarked on a 14-year career in 1959. His .300 average might have turned some heads if he had accumulated more than 140 at-bats.

Maury Wills (Dodgers) was a late bloomer, having spent nine seasons in the minors. His .260 batting average in 242 at-bats was respectable enough, but his seven RBIs were anemic, even for a banjo hitter. It’s interesting to note that his stolen base total was the same as his RBI total. Who would have guessed that three years later, pushing 30, he would set the major league record with 104 stolen bases? Incidentally, that same season he set a record for most games played in a season with 165, thanks to the three-game playoff with the Giants.

Many other to-be-prominent players made their NL debut in 1959, but just for a cup of coffee. Among them were Mike Cuellar, Tommy Davis, Al Jackson, Jose Pagan, Chris Short and Billy Williams. Tim McCarver (Cardinals) made an inauspicious debut in 1959 (four for 24), but the real story was his age: he was only 17. Statistics aside, that made his first major leaguer appearance remarkable.

By contrast, McCovey’s American League counterpart had a more conventional Rookie of the Year profile. Bob Allison of the Senators, hit 30 home runs and drove home 85 in 570 at-bats. That was an impressive first year but not good enough for unanimity, as Jim Perry of the Indians got five (of 24) points, while Russ Snyder of Kansas City got one.

As good as McCovey was in 1959, he was not immune to the sophomore jinx. A slow start in 1960 resulted in a demotion to Phoenix, where he hit .286 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 63 at-bats.

This was good enough to get him recalled to the big leagues. He finished the season in San Francisco with a total of 13 homers and 51 RBIs in 307 at-bats, but just a .238 batting average. He played part-time in 1961 and 1962 before his breakthrough year of 1963 when he led the NL with 44 home runs. From 1962 to 1964, he logged time in the outfield, which got him more at-bats.

As his career progressed, McCovey became one of the most popular Giants in franchise history. His sheer size enhanced his image. At maturity, he stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 210 pounds. That “GIANTS” script on his jersey couldn’t have been more fitting. Of course, his prodigious offensive output, notably in 1968 and 1969, when he copped NL home run and RBI titles, was the foundation of his popularity. The end result was 521 home runs, 1,555 RBIs, a .515 slugging percentage, and first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame in 1986.

The Rookie of the Year voters might have had second thoughts after McCovey was sent down to Phoenix in 1960. At that point, there was a chance that in the years to come, people would note who won the 1959 award and ask, “Willie who?”

Ultimately the voters were vindicated. Their decision, based on a two-month season, might have been a bit of a stretch, but in the case of Willie “Stretch” McCovey, they couldn’t have made a better choice.


Frank Jackson writes about baseball, film and history, sometimes all at once. He has has visited 54 major league parks, many of which are still in existence.
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Marc Schneider
8 years ago

Actually, based on the numbers you produced, it appears that McCovey did face weak competition for the award. These may have ended up being prominent players, but their rookie numbers were not impressive.

It’s hard to see why a team with Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, and, later, Marichal and Perry did not win more pennants. Talk about a competitive league.

AaronB
8 years ago

Those 60’s NL teams were just loaded:
1. You’ve got the Dodgers and all that pitching, + Wills, Willie Davis, and others…
2. The Cards with Gibson, Brock, Boyer, White, later Cepeda & Maris, Flood, & a young Steve Carlton
3. The Mets emerging at the end of the decade with all that great young pitching, Seaver, Koosman, a really young Ryan
4. The Cubbies had some serious talent as well: Williams, Banks, Santo, Jenkins, & Bill Hands
5. Not to mention that the Phillies, Pirates, and Reds all had some excellent players as well, many loaded with HOF’s…

It’s kind of no wonder looking at the old All-Star game records that the NL was dominating at that time.

Lou
8 years ago
Reply to  AaronB

And the Braves! They had Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews in their prime, Joe Torre coming up, and ageless Warren Spahn.

They finished 1st or 2nd every year from ’55-’60, and were still a good team (winning between 83 and 88 games every year) through ’66.

WILLIAM
8 years ago

So Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates, while not playing a full season, put up numbers similar to that of Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs. He did not play any American baseball including minor leagues prior to this season semi resulting in a sharp learning curve during his first 50 – 100 at bats, making his numbers all that more impressive. This screams Rookie of the Year in my opinion. What do you think?

WILLIAM
8 years ago
Reply to  WILLIAM

So Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates, while not playing a full season, put up numbers similar to that of Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs. He did not play any American baseball including minor leagues prior to this season, resulting in a sharp learning curve during his first 50 – 100 at bats, making his numbers all that more impressive. This screams Rookie of the Year in my opinion. What do you think?

Brian
8 years ago
Reply to  WILLIAM

This wasn’t Kang’s fault by any means, but Bryant will finish with almost 200 more plate appearances more than Kang which makes his contribution more valuable in 2015 despite similar rate stats.

Rich Dunstan
8 years ago

Great job on my favorite player! I listened to that first game (actually an afternoon game). His first hit was a single, and I remember legendary broadcaster Russ Hodges saying “…and Willie McCovey is battting a thousand!” Also worth noting about that 3-4-5 punch: all three of them led the league in home runs in successive years, Cepeda in 61, Mays in 62, and McCovey (tied with Hank Aaron) in 63. Mays then got the next two years for five in a row.

Brian
8 years ago

None of the players listed besides McCovey were serious candidates for the award. If McCovey didn’t win it, the award probably would have gone to either Don Demeter or Larry Sherry. Demeter had a hot first half but did next to nothing after the All-Star break and lost his job in August, but still finished at .256 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI for the pennant-winning Dodgers. Sherry only pitched 94 innings but went 7-2 with a 2.19 ERA, including 7.2 innings of shutout relief in the Dodgers’ one game-playoff win against Milwaukee.

Randy
8 years ago

Had the current standard of defining a rookie as being a player with less than 130 at bats been in effect in 1959 the NL Rookie of the Year should have been Vada Pinson.
Pinson had 96 at bats with the 1958 Reds and therefore under the then rules was not considered a rookie in 1959, but his 1959 season, his first full year in the majors, was remarkable. Pinson hit .316 with a .371 OBP and .509 SLG. He had 20 HR and 84 RBI. He lead the NL in runs scored with 131 and in doubles with 47. He was second in the league with 205 hits. His 21 stolen bases ranked fifth in the NL and his .316 BA was 4th. He played a terrific centerfield, although he was not recognized with a Gold Glove until the 1961 season. He made the NL all star team. He did all that in a season in which he did not turn 20 years old until mid-August.

bucdaddy
8 years ago

As a Pirates fan of 50 years, there have been two players I absolutely hated to see come to the plate, certain that they spelled doom for my team: McCovey and Joe Morgan.

Let’s see … yep, McCovey hit 56 homers against the Bucs, third most against any team, and hit .291 against them, better than any team (more than a couple of games) except the Mets.

I am quite astonished to see Morgan only had a .401 OBP against the Pirates. I would have sworn it was .900.

Tramps Like Us
8 years ago

I was unaware the Yankees made a play for Big Mac in ’59 but am happy he didn’t go to their famously racist organization. Although on the face of it, had he played the majority of his games in Yankee Stadium, he may have eclipsed 600 homers. But who knows if his personality would have fit Stengel’s attitudes towards black players? Remember, Stengel is the guy who lamented about Elston Howard that the Yankees finally got a (racist word starting with “n”) and he got the only one who can’t run.

Marc Schneider
8 years ago
Reply to  Tramps Like Us

Well, Stengel was gone after 1960 and Elston Howard did ok. I’m sure that, in the minors, McCovey put up with worse than what he have had to with the Yankees; my god, he played in the Georgia State League. What do you think that was like in the 1950s? The fact is, the African-American players had to be tough as hell to even make it through the minors so I’m sure Big Mac could have survived Casey Stengel for a couple of years. And even Stengel would likely have been ok with a guy that could hit homers like that. And New York itself would have been ok. It’s not like San Francisco was a bastion of liberalism in the 1950s like it became later; Willie Mays had trouble finding housing out there, as I understand, when the Giants moved from New York. I doubt that Stengel was all that much different than a lot of managers in those days. It’s sort of ironic, though, that if McCovey had been with the Yankees, he would have been on the winning end in 1962.

lony
8 years ago

Better choice of the year and thanks for sharing it.

Michael Bacon
8 years ago

The NL 1959 ROY of the year award should have gone to Jim Owens of the Phillies, a last place team. Although the Phils scored fewer runs per game than all other teams, and by a wide margin, Jim finished with a W-L record of 12-12. Although I am one of those who consider it absurd to award a “win” to any pitcher because baseball is a TEAM game, I include the W-L record for historical accuracy, and to acknowledge those misguided fans who continue to lend credence to antiquated stats. The NL FIP in ’59 was 3.87; Owens FIP was 3.19. Jim was forced to issue 11 intentional walks, more than any other Phillies pitcher, so his walk rate was much better than shown on the websites because they continue to consider a pitcher’s walk rate to include IBB.
The “Bear” was one of those who had his “career year” in his rookie season, but he did have an outstanding season in 1964 as a
“swing-man,” and also a fine season coming out of the bullpen the next year.
Unfortunately for Jim, he was ineligible for the ROY award because he had pitched 1/3 of an inning more than allowed, with a total of 45 1/3 in three previous seasons! As Yogi said, “You can look it up.”

Marc Schneider
8 years ago

I believe this is the Jim Owens who was Jim Bouton’s pitching coach in Houston and was mentioned in Ball Four.